


the rest of the world that looks so small

by sophia_sol



Category: Rómeó és Júlia (Színház)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Space, Forced Proximity, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-31
Updated: 2015-10-31
Packaged: 2018-04-29 05:06:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,048
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5116655
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sophia_sol/pseuds/sophia_sol
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Romeo and Mercutio explore maintenance passages on the generation ship where they live.</p>
            </blockquote>





	the rest of the world that looks so small

**Author's Note:**

  * For [privatesnarker](https://archiveofourown.org/users/privatesnarker/gifts).



> Thanks to Verity for betaing!

Mercutio's laughing as he works on wriggling through the scant opening in the doorlock he's managed to jam open. Beyond are the maintenance passages they used to explore as children. Romeo watches, wary. Does Mercutio really think he'll fit? But in another moment he's through and is saying "C'mon," a little breathlessly. Romeo doesn't even think of declining. He squeezes his own way through.

The maintenance passages are a tight fit, having been designed for bots, not humans, and Romeo and Mercutio are no longer children. But the passages are also designed with enough space that humans could pass through in case of any problems with the bots, so they manage okay.

Mercutio moves purposefully through the main passage, not stopping to investigate the side branches. Romeo follows more slowly - he can't help glancing down each branch he passes to see what's down it. He doesn't see much, but it's a clear reminder of just how vast the network of maintenance passages is throughout the ship. As children they'd attempted to make a map of the passages in their region of the massive generation ship, but had to give up when they'd realized how complicated the network was.

The passages still look comfortingly familiar, despite how many years it's been since they went exploring. Romeo, lost in these fond memories, almost bumps into Mercutio when he abruptly stops in front of him.

"What is it?" Romeo asks. In answer Mercutio points his light farther down the passage. One of the maintenance bots is ahead, trundling slowly in their direction. When they were kids they could - just barely - squeeze around the bots. They're too large for that now.

"We'll have to get out of the way to let it go past," says Mercutio, sighing.

There's no turn-off ahead of them, so Romeo turns back, and sees a door. He pulls it open: just a storage room, small, but enough space for them to get out of the bot's way. He and Mercutio enter it, and pull the door shut behind them.

They hear the bot continue to approach, and then....nothing. Romeo tries opening the door. It opens about an inch, and no farther. "Shit," Romeo says. The bot's sitting in the passageway right in front of the door, blocking it from opening. And to go from the sounds it's making, it's entered a maintenance/repair cycle. Those take _hours_.

He pulls the door shut again and turns to face Mercutio, who's clearly come to the same conclusion.

Romeo takes quick stock of the situation: the room is tiny, with shelves full of spare parts covering all the walls. There's barely room between the shelves for the two of them while standing, much less space enough to relax and be comfortable for the next few hours while they wait.

"Well!" Mercutio says brightly. "I'm sure we can find some way to pass the time." He gives Romeo an exaggerated leer.

Romeo rolls his eyes. "Take me, I'm yours," he says in a deadpan. Mercutio laughs and drapes an arm around Romeo's shoulders

"Dear me, you're willing to throw over Rosa for me? I'm honoured," Mercutio says.

Rosa? Romeo's startled. He'd thought it was obvious that his interest in her had waned months ago. But then Mercutio's familiar with Romeo's habit of falling out of one love straight into another, and Romeo has _not_ told him of his latest amour. As far as Romeo's aware, Mercutio's never been in love with anyone, so what would be the point? "You should be," Romeo says after a beat, but the joking mood between them is gone.

They're both silent for a moment, then Mercutio turns from Romeo to start poking through the shelves to see if there's anything interesting. Romeo sighs and leans back against the door. Mercutio pulls a few things off the shelves to examine them more closely, but nothing holds his interest for long and he moves on.

Eventually, Romeo says, "Looking for anything in particular?"

"Nah," says Mercutio, and keeps poking around, bumping into Romeo with every movement in the small space. Mercutio's always had an excess of energy, an inability to sit still. Romeo's mostly resigned to their enforced confinement, but if Mercutio's this restless already, things are not looking up.

"Are you going to start climbing the shelves next?" Romeo wonders aloud. Mercutio, of course, promptly does. He can't get far, though - the ceiling is barely taller than they are, and Mercutio ends up braced in a crouch at waist-height.

Romeo slides down the door until he's sitting, legs folded. Like this, he takes up most of the space on the floor, leaving Mercutio no way to easily step down from where he's braced. Mercutio stays where he is a moment, consideringly, then lets go and drops himself straight into Romeo's lap. 

"Ow, motherfucker," Romeo says.

Mercutio leans his head back against Romeo's shoulder and serenely replies, "Your own fault," which is the truth.

Romeo thinks about telling Mercutio to get off him, but now that the sharp punch of the impact has faded, it's nice to have an excuse to be in such close contact with Mercutio.

Mercutio, predictably, begins to get restless after a few minutes. He uses the lowest shelves to help lever himself up. He ends up standing awkwardly straddling Romeo, which gives Romeo an eyeful of Mercutio's ass, and then he gives up and sits right back down. There's just so little space in the room.

"This sucks," Mercutio says. "I had _plans_." He doesn't say what they were. Romeo doesn't bother asking. The plans likely involved playing a trick on someone, and Romeo would have been roped in, and it probably would have been fun, but Romeo's just as glad not to have to look over his shoulder for weeks while waiting for retaliation from the object of the trick.

"Time to make new plans," Romeo says. "I have an exciting plan to stay trapped in a tiny room for hours, that's a good one."

Mercutio laughs softly. "Exciting indeed." He settles back against Romeo's chest, his weight and warmth a comforting presence. "Entertain me."

Not such a bad way to spend a few hours after all, Romeo thinks, and begins updating Mercutio on the latest gossip from his neighbours.


End file.
